Post-office hammer-stamp



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EZRA MILLER, OF JANESYILLE, IVISCONSIN.

POST-OFFICE HAMMER-STAM P.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No, 23,307, dated March 22, 1859.

T0 @ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EZRA MILLER, of Janesville,in the county of Rock and State of Wisconsin, have invented a new and useful Post- Oflice HammerStamp5 and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a side view of my invention. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section, and Fig. 3 is an inverted viewof the marking-face of the stamp.

Similar letters of reference in each of the several figures indicate corresponding parts.

The object of my invention is to provide a handstamp which performs all the functions of a power-press and will enable the post-office to mark letters, (be, with an impression so deep that the postage-stamp will be placed beyond a second or surreptitious use and the post-office locality clearly and distinctly seen,two objects which it has heretofore been found verydifficult to accomplish with stamps which have their handles running at right angles to their marking-faces.

By the use of the hammer-stamp any desired force of blois7 maybe obtained with very little effort on the part of the operators and a most distinct and posit-ive impression made.

The marking can be accomplished with great facility and neatness and Without the hands of the operators being blistered, as is the case with ordinary stamps, with which the force is derived by direct concussion of the hand with the handle of the stamp instead of through a lever, Which has the joint of the hand for its fulcrum.

The nature of my invention consists in a post-oihce marking-stamp which has its handie running parallel, or nearly so, With its marking face or faces, as hereinafter specifled, whereby a long handle is provided and the stamp can be operated in the same manner as an ordinary hammer, and,if desirable, two marking-faces may be employed, one above and the other below the handle, but both to be used below the handle alternately by inverting the same.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I Will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

A is a cross-head secured to a handle B. rlhe upper end of cross-head is provided With a socket C to receive the types D to mark the words Paid, Free, die. The type is secured by the thumb-screw a for convenience of changing the type.

E is a screw-tenon at the lower end of the cross-head, to which is secured the marker F, now in use in the Post-Office Department.

G G G are movable types and figures in the center of marker F, for marking dates, &c., as practiced commonlyin post-offices. These types and figures are secured to their place in the marker F by the thumb-screw b.

In attaching the marking stamp and type to the cross-head the face of the marking stamps and type are at right angles, or nearly so, to the line of the cross-head A and parallel with the handle B, the handle being of sufficient length to enable the operator to give a sufficient blow to make the necessary impression. By the same blow that the printed impression is made the postage-stamp is effectuallycanceled bythe indentation or breaking of the stamp, rendering the surreptitious or second use of the postage-stamp impossible. The printing is very clear and the gumming of the typeprevented by the concussion caused by the blow in using the instrument and the ease and rapidity of afiixing postmarks greatly augmented.

In practice I may find it advantageous to cast or make the stamp and cross-head in one piece, and in some cases the handle, crosshead, and stamp may be cast together.

To make more evident the utility of my invention, I Will state in general the disadvantages of the old stamp and the advantages of Iny hammer-stamp.

First. The old markers do not stamp or mark with sufficient power.

Second. They do not cancel the postagestamp. The printers ink laid on by the old markers is so faintly pressed on the stamp that it can be readily Washed off and the stamps used again.

Third. The print is imperfect, because the marker is liable to fill up with ink.

Fourth. Itblisters the hand of the operator.

Fifth. It daubs the hand with ink.

The advantages of my stamp are- First. It does its work with great power.

' Seventh. The hands of the operator are not so liable to be claubed with the ink. Consequently the letters and papers are kept clean.

That I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Pat-ent, is-

A post-office marking-stamp Which has its handle running parallel, or nearly so, With its marking face or faces, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

EZRA MILLER. Witnesses:

G. YORKE ATLEE, R. W.4 FENWICK. 

